JEAIL > Volume 14(2); 2021 > Articles
Research Paper
Published online: Nov. 30, 2021
DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.14330/jeail.2021.14.2.05

The Political Heart of China’s Exclusionary Rule of Illegally Obtained Evidence: A Comparative Study with the International Criminal Court

Luye Mou
Zhejiang University Guanghua Law School
Zhijiang Road No. 51, Xihu District, Hangzhou City, Zhejiang Province, 310008, P.R. China.
Corresponding Author: luye_mou@zju.edu.cn

ⓒ Copyright YIJUN Institute of International Law
This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/3.0/) which permits unrestricted non-commercial use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

Abstract
Article 69(7) of the International Criminal Court Statute develops a specific rule to exclude evidence and thus ensure evidentiary reliability and procedural integrity before its proceedings. China has introduced the exclusionary rule of illegally obtained evidence that places an overriding priority on pursuing factual accuracy, because the rule has been devised and applied primarily for the sake of preventing miscarriages of justice and bolstering governmental integrity. A political imperative for truth makes the rule incompatible with the existing institutional environment. The ICC’s rule and practice illuminates the importance of neither assuming the excellence of the rule nor borrowing the rule without modification, but of exploring the rule that is based upon one’s own practical experience, institutional structure, and political powers. This article embraces the room for flexibility, experimentation, and adaptation that can contribute to a healthy scheme for legal transplant and law reform.

Keywords : International Criminal Court, Exclusionary Rule, Miscarriages of Justice, Legal Transplant, Procedural Integrity

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